For Stanley Clarke, nothing beats jamming alfresco. "I prefer to play outside," the veteran bassist said. "When you're in a concert hall, it's usually a little more serious. Outside, you get a more festive environment and more reaction from people."

The sun will be setting on downtown Cleveland when Clarke performs Friday as part of the first Tri-C MusicFest. A stage will be erected on the north side of Mall C, with room for overflow crowds on Mall B.

As far as the music goes, it promises to be all over the map, with jazz, hip-hop, blues and other genres represented. The free two-day event is brought to us by the same folks behind the long-running Tri-C JazzFest. With MusicFest, they're reaching out to a wider audience.

"With our mix of music, activities and food, there really will be something for everyone," said Beth Rutkowski, the festival's director. Organizers hope to draw between 15,000 and 20,000 people, if the weather cooperates.

You can file Clarke's music under jazz. And funk. And numerous other styles. He first rose to fame in the 1970s, alongside keyboardist Chick Corea in the jazz-fusion supergroup Return to Forever.

Jazz legend Stanley Clarke performs at 8 p.m. Friday at part of the Tri-C MusicFest.

As of last week, Clarke was putting the finishing touches on a new solo effort, "The Toys of Men," tentatively set for an October release via Beachwood-based Heads Up International. The album takes its title from an 11-minute epic about "the whole military age we seem to be in right now," Clarke said.

Despite the dark subject matter, the music is not without rays of hope. "Actually, I think it's possibly the most spiritual album I've ever done," Clarke said.

Strings attached to a message
Miri Ben-Ari, who bills herself as "the hip-hop violinist," is on the MusicFest bill for Saturday evening. The classically trained musician has jammed with rappers Wyclef Jean, Jay-Z and Kanye West.

"I do my own thing," Ben-Ari said. "It has the influence of hip-hop, R&B and soul music. It's feel-good music. I have a lot of fun onstage. When you watch me, it's clear I love what I'm doing."

Her latest single, "Symphony of Brotherhood," finds Ben-Ari passionately fiddling between sound bites from the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech.

"Symphony of Brotherhood" represents "a big shot in the dark to make a difference," Ben-Ari said. "It's promoting the message of Martin Luther King. For me, it's something you have to do. I'm a third-generation descendant of Holocaust survivors. The fight against racism is very personal to me."

MusicFest headlining duties Friday will be handled by Medeski, Scofield, Martin & Wood. No, it's not a law firm; rather, it's a freewheeling quartet with John Medeski on keyboards, John Scofield on guitar, Billy Martin on drums and Chris Wood on bass.

Rooted in jazz, they're prone to go off on heady improvisational tangents. Just don't lump them in with the jam-band crowd, please. "I'm all into jamming," Martin said. "But I feel a lot of bands under that moniker aren't really that deep."

The core trio of Medeski, Martin & Wood released its debut CD, "Notes From the Underground," 15 years ago. They've been collaborating with Scofield (who is featured on the new album, "Out Louder") on and off since the late 1990s.

Scofield "adds a melodic solo voice," Martin said. "John [Medeski], Chris and I have an opportunity to become a really good rhythm section. But it's not like the John Scofield Band, because he's also able to play rhythm and hold things down.

"It's not smooth jazz, where we're playing the same rhythms. It changes from night to night."

Miri Ben-Ari, who bills herself as "the hip-hop violinist," is on the MusicFest bill for Saturday evening.

Local guitarists close the show
MusicFest organizers tried unsuccessfully to book everyone from rapper Mos Def to Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Patti Smith to close the festivities, now scheduled to culminate Saturday night with a "Cleveland Blues Guitar Summit" showcasing Alan Greene, Frank "Silk" Smith, Frankie Starr and other local talents.

"Cleveland has a terrific blues scene," Rutkowski said. "To get all these people together for a monster jam is going to be really exciting."

Lakeside Avenue will be closed between Malls B and C during the festival, with performances simulcast on two large screens. Vendors will sell everything from crafts to food and beverages, including fare from the Corner Alley, Flannery's Pub, Teresa's Pizza and other local restaurants. Expect a range of family-friendly activities, too, with opportunities for children to make their own musical instruments, draw with chalk and have their faces painted.

"We want to create a very comfortable atmosphere," Rutkowski said. "If you want to stay busy, we'll have enough going on to keep you busy. We'll have continual live music, too, so it's also perfect if you just want to sit on a blanket the whole time."

Clarke, for one, is looking forward to it.

"When I was coming up in the early '70s, I remember doing a lot of festivals where every band sounded exactly the same," he said.

He prefers MusicFest's anything-goes philosophy.

"You have so much cross-pollination happening now," he said. "It's a great time for the audience because you get to listen to all these different things, which is the way it should be."